


Head over Feet

by upsgirl88



Category: Cardinal (TV 2017)
Genre: Cardinal CTV, F/M, Fix-It, John x Lise, Love, Romance, can't believe it's over, my therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:14:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24164194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/upsgirl88/pseuds/upsgirl88
Summary: John makes his first visit to see her in Toronto after Lise has left Algonquin Bay.  Questions are asked.  Answers are given.
Relationships: John Cardinal & Lise Delorme, John Cardinal/Lise Delorme
Comments: 12
Kudos: 40





	Head over Feet

**Author's Note:**

> While I was okay with the way things ended for Cardinal and Lise, because they were at least making plans to see each other, I had trouble making sense of it all. It took a lot of thought before I could come up with a reason for her to leave that felt good to me and felt like it fit the series. When that reason did come to me I felt compelled to expand my thoughts and my way of doing that is to write. 
> 
> I honestly don't know if anyone will read this. But if you do, thank you from the bottom of my heart. 
> 
> This couple stole my heart and I'm really sad it's over. I had so many questions after Monday night, but I pray it's been left open ended so they can always come back and make a movie or something :) 
> 
> For now, it's just this one chapter, but I might be open to adding a smut chapter in the future if people want that. 
> 
> PS I suck at titles so I just picked a song title from a Canadian Artist... it seemed fitting ;)

Cardinal took a seat beside Delorme on the couch in her small two bedroom apartment. It was long after he’d picked her up on the corner of Gerrard and Jarvis, near a fast food joint known as ‘Hooker Harvey’s.’ Lise was working an undercover case, trying to catch a man who was terrorizing sex workers in the city. 

Anyone watching the scene would have thought he was some perverted middle aged man who needed to pay for sex from a young, energetic prostitute, not just a guy picking up his dear friend after her long shift as an undercover police officer. As soon as she had climbed into his SUV, he’d looked her up and down she’d glared at him. “Don’t say a word.” So he hadn’t, not for a long time. In fact, he hadn’t said much since he got there. 

She had shown him around her apartment while he tried not to be too distracted by the fishnet stockings, skirt that barely covered her ass, and sooooo much cleavage. Afterward they ordered a late evening dinner from a new place she found, and he listened to her talk about the new job and everything she loved and hated about it. 

But now they were sitting together on the couch and Lise was quiet. She’d already said a lot and the silence in the room was screaming at him that it was his turn.

He took a deep breath and spoke in his low, soft, whispery tone, “Lise, why did I have to come here? Wh.. why’d you leave? Why’d you take the job?” All this time and he’d never even worked up the courage to ask why she needed to get away from Algonquin Bay. 

Her response was typical Lise. Answer a question with a question because she needed her answer first. “Why did you wait until after I’d already moved to ask me that?” 

Cardinal nodded and gave her a half smile, then he dug deep and let himself voice an honest and heartfelt answer. “Because I was scared,” he said with a little shrug of his broad shoulders. He was a man of few words, but the ones he chose right then had a very big impact. One of the things he loved most about Delorme was that he didn’t have to use big, eloquent sentences, or spill out everything on his mind. She could make sense of him with the bits and pieces he gave, when he actually gave them. He’d owed her this one for a long time and it actually felt good to finally admit it. 

She often didn’t say too much either, but he wasn’t as good at reading her, so he was thankful when she gave him a full explanation. “For this to work, you and me, it has to be somewhere else. The memories and ghosts that haunt you back home… I can’t compete with them.” Cardinal didn’t miss the way she said ‘back home’ because he knew she was referring to herself too. She had come to consider Algonquin Bay her home, yet she still left and it was his fault. “That’s why I asked you to come visit me. And that’s why I left.” He wanted more. He needed a little more than that, so he searched her eyes until she finally nodded and continued. “I loved working in Algonquin Bay. I loved working with you… I _love_ working with you,” she corrected herself to the present tense. “But I came to realize it wasn’t about the job, it was only about you. It didn’t have to be work. It could be watching a movie or eating takeout… I just wanted to spend time with you.” 

He could feel his heart start beating a little faster in his chest - an effect she had on him quite often. “Lise…” 

“Let me finish,” she stopped him. “I’ve come this far.” Cardinal nodded. “I wanted a chance for us. It couldn’t happen there, so I took a job here. If I stayed nothing between us was ever going to change, and I needed that possibility.” He felt like the air in the room was crushing him. Her words were hard to swallow, yet at the same time they were everything he’d needed to hear for a long time. “It was either going to be an end or a beginning… but I couldn’t just keep going along the same path.” 

“So which is it?” He whispered, swallowing at a lump in his throat. 

“Well you’re here, aren’t you?” She said, giving him a soft, delicate smile. 

“I’m here,” he echoed, returning the smile. It felt so good to allow her to pull that out of him. He knew he didn’t smile enough, but he hadn’t had much to smile about in his life, except when he was with her. 

“What are you here for though?” She asked. “A booty call?” 

She didn’t sound bitter about that, more realistic, but it hurt his heart that she could possibly think that’s all it was. He allowed himself a half smile, just to keep it light to start. “I’m not saying I would turn that down, but…” There was something else he needed to say though. Something he should have said long before that moment. “Lise, I’m in love with you.” 

She didn’t look the least bit surprised by his words, maybe a little shocked to finally hear him say it though. “Me too,” she whispered. As much as he wanted to hear the words, he knew she would give that to him eventually. ‘Me too’ was enough. “So now what?” 

“I don’t know,” he sighed, dropping his face to his hands for a moment. “You’re another one of my ghosts you know,” Cardinal said, raising his head to look at her. Somehow it was getting easier to speak his mind, now that he’d already said some of the things he’d been holding inside a long time. “I see you everywhere. It’s only been two weeks and I’m going insane without you,” he admitted. There was a little smirk of satisfaction from that harmless, but slightly arrogant side she had that came out every once in a while. “I walked to your place the other night. Went right up to the door and was about to knock before I realized you weren’t there.” He shook his head. “See, insane. I’m losing it.” 

“If it makes you feel any better, I picked up the phone and started to dial your number to see if you wanted to discuss the case… my case, that you know nothing about,” she chuckled softly. “Old habits, huh?” 

“We’re quite the pair.” He shifted a bit and their knees brushed. The spark of electricity he felt from that split second, tiny, accidental touch was almost ridiculous. The feelings between them were so deep and so raw that even a little graze could rock him to the core. 

He studied her for a moment. Even dressed like a damn hooker she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. All his fears and insecurities hit him once again. She was young and vibrant, full of life and joy, with so much ahead in her career. He was a lot older and had lived through tremendous hardship and heartache. He was pretty damn close to retirement too. 

“John, don’t…” Her words brought him out of his head. “I know that look. Just stop. Stop thinking so much. This is good. We’re good together - you and I.” 

“I can’t leave… not yet,” he said finally. “Things have been busy. We don’t even have a replacement for you… if I left too Dyson would be desperate…” He didn’t want to hurt Lise, but he knew she understood what he was saying. “No one wants to come to a small, freezing, northern town to be a cop. They go further up north, join the RCMP and make way more money to freeze their ass off. Or they go south and work in cities, Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston…” 

“I get it,” she said with a knowing smile. “So I guess we just figure it out. Make it work. Or at least give it a try.” 

Cardinal thought about her booty call statement earlier. He didn’t want her to feel that way. He didn’t want their relationship to become weekend visits for sex. While the sex was incredible, he needed her to know she meant something far more to him. “I’m going to kiss you Lise,” he said softly. “Then I’m going to go to that spare room I saw on the tour and I’m going to sleep there. Then tomorrow, you’re going to show me around the city, your city.” 

“You already know Toronto,” she said with a little amused smile. 

“Yeah, but I want to see it through your eyes.” He saw her look of understanding. He wasn’t sure if he could ever fall in love with a place that wasn’t Algonquin Bay, but if there was any chance at all she could make it happen. 

He hoped his hand wouldn’t shake when he lifted it up. The way Lise could make him tremble was actually a bit embarrassing. He lifted a steady hand to her face and tucked a piece of hair back behind her ear. He was thankful she had taken off that horrible blonde wig. 

Flashes of the first time they had kissed danced through his mind. There hadn’t been much restraint that night. There was so much passion and tension between them that every second had been explosive. This was his chance to slow down and give her a sweet, tender kiss that matched the love he felt for her in his heart. 

John dipped his head and gently rested it against hers, closing his eyes for a second to feel that warmth flowing through him from simply putting his forehead against hers. He could feel her hand on his arm and it was so comforting to have her touch him that way, so naturally. 

With his eyes still closed, he slowly moved towards her mouth. He could feel the heat of her breath as he got closer. Just before their lips met he paused. He knew his beard would already be tickling her lips as she waited with the same anticipation he was feeling. Finally John made the last move and their lips brushed. His body instantly started to hum from head to toe. 

As he backed away and then pressed their lips together again he could feel the grip of her hand on his arm get a little tighter. By their time their tongues brushed for the first time her nails were digging into his arm, but it was a pleasurable sting. It was a reminder of how she was right on the edge of losing control, trying to hold on, just like he was. He honestly hadn’t realized just how hard it would be to resist pulling her into his lap so he could feel her weight on him and feel her body pressed against his. 

Kissing her was magical. It felt like everything he’d ever wanted, laced with just enough danger to get his adrenaline flowing. It was a rush and a soothing calm all at the same time. 

When he moved from her lips to her neck he knew it was time to stop. The taste of her skin on his tongue, the little moan she made when he sucked lightly… it was all about to push him past the point of no return. So Cardinal backed away, but not before leaving one last tender, lingering kiss on her lips. 

There. That was all he really needed. Not to say he didn’t want more, but he didn’t need it. What he needed was for her to know she was special to him and that he wanted this to work out, somehow, someway, whatever that looked like for the two of them. 

“Night Lise,” he said, as he stood up and her grip on his arm slowly released. He caught her hand as it slipped away and held it briefly, before letting go. He gave her a smile and started to walk towards the spare room. 

“Hey John?” He stopped and turned back. “What if I want more?” There was a lusty look in her eye that told him that was already the case. He understood it well because he felt it too. Making love wasn’t out of the question, he just wanted to be sure she knew he didn’t expect it. 

“Then I guess you know where to find me,” he said, leaving the decision up to her. There was one last smile before he turned quickly to walk away while his legs were still cooperating. 

When Cardinal climbed into bed a little while later, he didn’t have to wonder if she would come to him that night. He already knew she would.


End file.
